Whether you are a content creator, editor or reader, odds are you’ve encountered a high-interest article that seemed a bit scattershot.

It may have given too much of an insight into the writer’s stream of consciousness, or buried important points deep within the article. In other words, an otherwise useful piece of content failed to resonate because of its structure.

If the intention of content is to provide value and / or to incite some action from readers, lack of resonance is a huge impediment to success. But how can you ensure that each blog post or article has a deliberate, clear structure and message?

That book was The Pyramid Principle: Logic in Writing and Thinking by Barbara Minto.

While I can’t speak authoritatively about how the book ranks historically among books on business writing, I can say from experience that its pyramid form is well-suited to optimize the effectiveness of short-form content (I am on my second copy of the book, which retails for $135).

In the context of short-form content, let’s explore how the pyramid structure provides a clear framework to structure blog posts in three parts:

Introduction

Content body

Conclusion

Introduction: situation, complication, (question), solution

ESPN does an amazing job drawing readers into their articles. Consider the first line of a recent blog post about the statistical success of Seahawk quarterback Russell Wilson while playing in Seattle:

“Russell Wilson plays well on any field, but at home, he’s unbeatable so far in his NFL career.”

The point of the article is to discuss relevant statistics about the Seahawks relative to their upcoming game, and with that context this introduction may seem somewhat superfluous. But the statement draws you in and is pretty uncontroversial, especially if you are a Seahawks fan.

This is what Barbara Minto calls a “statement of agreement.” It is a non-controversial statement meant to gain agreement with the reader. The statement of agreement is the first line of the introduction in the Minto Pyramid Principle.

While the statement of agreement is a clever way to entice readers in, how should the introduction be structured to set-up the rest of the article?

Minto recommends following a storytelling format where you describe a situation, a complication, and state (or imply) a crucial question which is answered by a solution. For example, for this article I wanted to communicate the following in my introduction:

Situation: Short form content is sometimes poorly structured

Complication: Poorly structured content doesn’t resonate with readers

Question: How can writers structure content better?

Solution: The Minto Pyramid Principle us a good structure for short-form content

You can be the judge of how effectively I did this, but hopefully this shows how effective a statement of agreement followed by situation, complication and solution can be to communicate the big picture in an introduction.

Body: communicating context with pyramidal structure

It may seem pretty easy to communicate your high-level point in an introduction, but sometimes the devil is in the details. It’s oftentimes far more difficult to make a compelling argument than a first impression, and this is the strength of the pyramid structure.

In the Minto Pyramid, the main point (the “solution”) is stated at the top of the pyramid and supporting points are made underneath.

The supporting points (also stated as solutions) can be rank-ordered or chronologically ordered. The supporting points may have supporting points of their own which follow the same pyramidal hierarchy until the point has been exhausted. For business writing, these pyramids may go down several levels populating many pages of writing, but I’ve found that one level is enough to create a post of 700-1000 words.

Many nuances to the Minto Pyramid are described in the book, not the least of which is to make proper inductive and deductive arguments for a main point. At a high level, though, what I want to communicate about the pyramid structure is that it provides a logical and proper framework for all points supporting the premise of a post.

Conclusion: state next steps in the context of the main point

I am the king of awkward blog endings. I’m too lazy to summarize and too conventional to end a post cold, so sometimes it gets weird.

And here’s the complication with the Minto Pyramid Principle: Barbara Minto says that if you do it right you don’t need an ending. I couldn’t end this post here and be satisfied with it (or expect anyone else to be satisfied with it)… so what to do?

One of the great blog posts around conversation, “How to end a conversation like a man” makes the following recommendation: Bring the conversation around to the reason you connected in the first place.

It turns out that this is somewhat congruent with Barbara Minto’s thoughts as well. She says that you can summarize (if you must), but should probably do it in the context of describing “next steps.” What’s kind of great about articulating “next steps” is that it will either make your content more helpful or will create a call to action to perpetuate movement in a desired direction.

So the best conclusion for a blog post would be to restate the main point in the context of next steps, creating a logical end and greater value for the post.

I’ve discussed how the Minto Pyramid can provide a straightforward, logical framework for short-form content. It draws attention in, emphasizes the main point, makes supporting points effectively, and sums up using next steps.

If you want to learn more about this framework here are some resources:

You can buy the Minto Pyramid Principle book direct from the website or used from various booksellers. It’s pricey but well worth it.

You can also buy the Minto app for iOS or Android ($14.99 USD). There are a few negative reviews of this app, but I have the iOS version and find it a quite effective refresher on the principles. There are a lot of videos and short-form tutorials that make this a great tool.

You can visit Barbara Minto’s website to see some of the ancillary Pyramid Principle tutorials and products that she provides.